Bid to assist destitute thwarted

CAPE Town mayor Patricia de Lille may be forced to abandon a destitute community in Khayelitsha after her attempts to address their plight were met with violence as communities fought over a piece of the development pie in the area.

In January last year a fire ravaged the BM informal settlement in Khayelitsha, leaving 4000 homeless.

When the city wanted to move the fire victims to a temporary relocation area (TRA) in nearby Mfuleni, officials and contractors were met with violence from residents who had already earmarked the land for housing.

Instead of low-cost houses, the DA-run municipality has a policy of building TRAs as emergency housing for those in distress.

Addressing a full council meeting after the city passed its R34-billion budget, De Lille rejected ANC claims that it had not spent its capital budget in areas like Khayelitsha.

De Lille said: "The contractor has been disrupted on numerous occasions, due to resistance."

She said the city had obtained a court order against those Mfuleni residents who had disrupted provision of the TRA for the fire victims.

The delays and violent resistance meant that the fire victims would go through another Cape Town winter without proper homes.

Earlier, De Lille accused a senior ANC councillor of "offering a sizable tender" to a DA councillor in exchange for his defection. Her administration has filed a criminal complaint against the ANC councillor. - Quinton Mtyala